Multi-piece article formed from unitary blank



Sept. 10, 1963 .1. D. DESMOND 3,103,080

MULTI-PIECE ARTICLE FORMED FROM UNITARY BLANK Filed Dec. 14, 1961 \faiuz Q pesmonci 29" W 6% United States Patent tainer Corporation of America, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 159,416 1 Claim. (Cl. 40-70) This invention relates to multi-piece articles which can be formed from unitary blanks of flexible sheet material such as foldable paperboard.

The invention comprehends -a new and improved multipiece article, and method of constructing, same which can be cut from a single blank of sheet material at one operation with the separate pieces of the article being initially attached to each other by a connecting piece until after the separate pieces have been assembled.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a multi-piece article which can be formed from a unitary blank of sheet material.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of a two piece dial card assembly having a pair of relatively rotatable members which are formed from a single blank of sheet material cut and scored to present a plurality of separate pieces detachably interconnected in a manner that will permit the article to be assembled prior to the separation of the pieces from each other.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from an examination of the following description and drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the inside of the unitary blank from which the assembled structure of FIGURES 2 and 3 may be formed;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of an assembled article embodying features of the invention; and

FIGURE 3 is a transverse section taken on line 33 of FIGURE 2.

It will be understood that, for purposes of clarity, certain elements have been intention-ally omitted from certain views where they are illustrated to better advantage in other views.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of the invention, it will be seen that the dial card assembly, indicated generally at 10, illustrated in FIGURE 2 of the drawing, is formed from the unitary blank, indicated generally at 12 illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the drawmg.

The assembly comprises a relatively thin flat, preferably rectangular, base member or panel 14 and a relatively thin flat, preferably circular, dial member or rotating panel 16 which is connected to the base member by an intermediate or connecting web 18.

Web 18, as best seen in FIGURE 1, is joined at its opposite edges to the base and dial members 14 and 16 along perforated tear lines 20 and 22, respectively, so as to be readily detachable from said members after they have been connected to each other by other means in a manner described later in the specification. Intermediate its ends the web 18 may be scored to provide a transverse fold line 24 which extends in a direction normal to a line drawn between the centers of the respective members.

When the web has been folded about the fold line 24, which incidentally is disposed midway between the centers of the respective members, dial members 16 are superimposed upon the base member 14, as shown in FIGURE 3. Connection of the members to each other is accomplished by means of a pair of tabs 26 which are cut from the dial member and disposed to engage the inner edge or periphery 28 of a circular hole 30 cut in the center of the base member 14.

As best seen in FIGURE 1, the cut lines 32 which provide the tabs 26 have arcuate portions 34 and U-shaped 3,103,080: Patented Sept. 10, 1963 portions '36. The arcuate portions have approximately the same radius as that of the base opening 30 and the U-shaped portions project outwardly from the arcuate portions so that the distance between the extremities of the tabs is greater than the diameter of the opening 30. Thus, when the dial member is placed over the base memher and the tabs are pushed through the opening they will retain the dial member in position on the base member and permit its rotation through an arc of 360 relative to the position of the base member.

The dial member may be provided with an opening, such as the generally pie-shaped slot 38, so that when the dial member is placed on top of the base member all of the pie-shaped portions 40 on the base member which have written material thereon, not shown in detail on the drawings, except one portion will be covered by the dial card. The exposed portion will be that portion which is disposed below the slot 38 in the dial assembly.

The details of the printed portions of the base member and slot of the dial member are not particularly important, as this basic idea is old, but the novelty in this invention resides in the manner of attaching the members to each other, both before and after assembly.

By the novel arrangement disclosed herein it is possible to make a two piece article from a unitary blank by interconnecting the two pieces initially by a web which can be readily detached from the two members after the article has been assembled and the two members have been interconnected by other means integral therewith.

The invention is not limited to an article having a pair of relatively moveable members, but could be employed in the formation of an entirely different type of article such as a paperboard tray having an integral partition which is formed from a unitary blank, with the partition being severed after it has been secured to the remainder of the blank in another manner.

I claim:

A unitary blank of suitable sheet material, such as foldable paperboard, for use in forming a. multi-piece dial card assembly having a pair of relatively rotatable members, comprising:

(a) a thin, fiat base member having a centrally disposed,

circular opening;

(b) a thin, fiat, circular dial member having a pair of centrally disposed cuts defining a pair of opposed tabs spaced equidistantly from a central axis and disposed to be received into the opening of said base member for rotatably mounting the dial member on the base member; and

(c) a thin, flat connecting strip attached at its opposite edges to respective edges of said dial and base members;

(d) said strip having a transverse score line extending in a direction normal to a line interconnecting the axis of said base member opening and the axis of said dial member tabs;

(e) said strip score line being located mid-way between the axes of said dial and base members, so that when the strip is folded 180 on said score line the axes of the respective members will be in alignment and the tabs of the dial member can be inserted into the opening of the base member;

(f) said strip being attached to the respective members along lines of perforation, so that when the dial member is connected to the base member by the tabs, the strip can be readily detached from said members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,016,445 Massey Oct. 8, 1935 2,616,199 Robbins Nov. 4, 1952 2,777,231 Bollin I an. 15, 1957 

